Claude Anet

Born Jean Schopfer in Morges, Switzerland, in 1868, he wrote under the name Claude Anet and built a remarkably varied career in France. He was not only a writer and journalist but also an accomplished tennis player, winning the French Championships in 1892 and reaching the final again in 1893.

His literary career began around the turn of the century, and he went on to publish novels, plays, and nonfiction. Among his best-known works is Ariane, jeune fille russe, the novel that later inspired the film Love in the Afternoon. He also wrote books shaped by real events and first-hand observation, including work connected to Russia during the First World War.

Anet studied in Paris and was also known as a collector with a strong interest in art. He died in Paris in 1931, leaving behind the image of a writer whose life moved easily between literature, journalism, sport, and the wider cultural world of his time.